Exec

Executive worries: The employment market for managers remains strong, so many executives don't have to worry about getting new work as much as they did a few years ago. But they do worry about keeping their jobs, finds Exec-U-Net, a firm that gathers information on job openings for executives. Exec-U-Net surveyed executives and found that more than 71 percent believe their companies or industries will be threatened by mergers, downsizings or restructurings during the next 12 months.Fill 'er up: A survey of 50 spots around the world found the price of gasoline to be highest in Hong Kong, at $5.01 a gallon.

Redirect your energies: Focusing all your resources on your current job could kill your career, finds Exec-U-Net, a management information service. The Norwalk, Conn.-based outfit surveyed more than 1,500 executive search firms and found that 75 percent believe that working all-out at your job now shouldn't be your top priority. The recruiters advocate network- and contact-building for people who want to be on the move.Go it alone: Brand-new entrepreneurs may be tempted to add the words "and associates" to their own names when choosing a corporate identity, but if it's a one-person operation, it's best to leave the phrase off. That's the advice of Paul and Sarah Edwards, columnists for Home Office Computing magazine.

Zaire never really existed. Now maybe it can.Exec Rehrmann is running for governor until someone makes her a better offer.The Supreme Court must decide whether conversations between the spouse of a high official with her own lawyer in front of a lawyer employed by the people are shielded by lawyer-client privilege or were for a prosecutor. Only in America.Cap'n Bodgit for governor!Pub Date: 5/19/97

Anyone who expected uplifting debate is sitting New Hampshire out.The U.S. sold arms to Iran while forbidding others to do so. Now it turns out Britain did the same with Iraq. We're even.Dutch wanted a police chief who knows where his appointment came from.PG County Exec Wayne Curry is getting a stadium free. Wayne Curry for Mayor! Wayne Curry for Governor!

Sony just wrote off a whopping $2.7 billion on its investment in Columbia Pictures. The proud Japanese giant discovered that mastering Hollywood is no walk in the park.But it's not just Sony. Industry insider Peter Bart puts his finger on the issues in "That Sync-ing Feeling" (GQ, November 1994); it's one of the best analyses of innovation failures I've come across.The problem Bart unearths: mimicry. When Wyatt Earp got hot in Tinseltown, Disney put out "Tombstone"; Warner released "Wyatt Earp."

It's essential a candidate baresHis adulterous doings upstairs;He can't just debate( The affairs of the stateAnd leave out his state of affairs.Since Washington, Bush is the soleOf George in the president's role;This one's first in war0$ Worst in peace and, what's more,Losing points in hius countrymen's poll.Of congressional perks there's a raft,Going up, going down, fore and aftThe latest such gifts( Are marble-floored liftsAnd guess who is getting the shaft.If rules take a 3-month vacationFor corporate mollification,Heaven save me and you,% The environment, too,From Bush's rederegulation.

PATRONS OF Berry & Elliot's restaurant at the Hyatt got an unexpected surprise Saturday night when none other than super star Stevie Wonder and entourage strolled in for a fashionably late dinner at 10 p.m.Wonder told Berry & Elliot's manager Cary Attar he was in town visiting a friend. The group seemed to enjoy their stay, ordering four bottles of Dom Perignon -- with a fifth sent over from another table. (No bubbly for Wonder, however, who seemed content to sip pineapple juice throughout the evening.

Now that life insurer First Executive is a basket case, having filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, what are the next insurance nightmares that short-sellers are dreaming up? I checked with a short who specializes in financial scams -- he had been screaming for years that First Exec was headed for trouble because of its junk-bond holdings and his message is: "Junk bonds are going to seem like Sunday School compared with commercial real estate."This short, who doesn't want to be identified, isn't the only one talking about a looming commercial real-estate debacle in the insurance industry.

The notebook computer category dominated the Comdex fall computer exposition last week in Las Vegas, but it was difficult to find many significant variations among the dozens of slim, portable models that were shown.One that stood out from the crowd, however, was the AST Premium Exec from AST Research Inc. of Irvine, Calif.The Premium Exec 286/12, which will have a base list price of $2,495 when it reaches stores in late December or January, is a 6.5-pound, IBM-compatible system built around a 12-megahertz 286-class microprocessor.

THE TALLY IS in for the World's Largest Office Party, the Hyatt Regency's annual bash held recently to benefit the WBAL Kid's Campaign and Santa Claus Anonymous. More than 2,000 partygoers raised about $15,000 for the charities. Celebrity bartenders from all over town filled 20 bars for several hours, vying for the most tips to help the cause. At our bar station, the Maryland State Lottery's Frank Kaufman and Don Royston urged the masses to dip into their pockets by giving out key chains that double as instant lottery ticket scrapers!

Even in this real estate market, a for-sale sign can create a buzz. A "STUNNING/ELEGANT" 6BR, 31/2 BA house for sale in Reisterstown has people talking. It's not the "updated" kitchen that's generating interest. Nor the "lush landscaping." It's the political intrigue. Jim Smith, the term-limited Baltimore County exec, is selling the house and moving to an apartment in Andy Harris' state Senate district, where he'll mull a run for that seat. Smith and his wife, whose four children are grown, put their house up for sale two weeks ago. "My wife and I are planning to downsize," Smith said.

I drove three hours to Crisfield on Wednesday and three hours back, and for a few hours in between talked to a bunch of politicians out on a hot parking lot. It was so worth it, if only to (almost) see Martin O'Malley and Doug Duncan cross paths. The Democratic governor and the Democrat who might challenge him in next year's primary came face to face at the J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clam Bake. Duncan, the former Montgomery County executive, has hinted that he might run, either for governor or for lieutenant governor with former Prince George's exec Wayne Curry at the top of the ticket.

Let's imagine for a minute you're the head of a global corporation that's seen better days. The numbers are down, shareholders aren't thrilled, and crisis after crisis has battered the company's standing in the market. What should the chief executive do? A: Fire a scapegoat. B: Replace the entire leadership team. C: Do nothing. D: None of the above. Which option did President Bush take yesterday when he announced that he had accepted Andrew H. Card's resignation as his chief of staff and installed budget chief Joshua Bolten in his place?

Fix a choir and an ad exec gets his inheritance in The Fighting Temptations (8 p.m.-10:05 p.m., Showtime). Good thing Beyonce (above) is around.

AS I pulled into the parking lot Saturday night next to the Heritage Cineplex on Taylor Avenue, I could tell it was not going to be business as usual for the only African-American-owned independent theater in the Baltimore area. The lot was nearly full. Customers queued up to the admission window to buy tickets. The larger of Heritage's two theaters was about one-third full when I took my seat, about 25 minutes before the scheduled 7 p.m. showtime. Patrons poured in after that. When the sneak preview of The Fighting Temptations was about to start, every seat -- all 472 of them -- was taken.

If you think soccer moms driving SUVs the size of summer cottages while talking on their cell phones are a menace, get ready for some really bad news. A "workplace" catalog has introduced the "front seat secretary," which promises to "transform any vehicle into a mobile office." It consists of a desk top that is secured to the passenger seat and has a stabilizing surface for the driver's laptop computer, printer and writing pad, and it includes a pocket for hanging files. That cell-phone driver will look downright quaint next to the hard-charging exec who's putting together the next big deal while putting the pedal to the metal on the Beltway.

Executive worries: The employment market for managers remains strong, so many executives don't have to worry about getting new work as much as they did a few years ago. But they do worry about keeping their jobs, finds Exec-U-Net, a firm that gathers information on job openings for executives. Exec-U-Net surveyed executives and found that more than 71 percent believe their companies or industries will be threatened by mergers, downsizings or restructurings during the next 12 months.Fill 'er up: A survey of 50 spots around the world found the price of gasoline to be highest in Hong Kong, at $5.01 a gallon.

Zaire never really existed. Now maybe it can.Exec Rehrmann is running for governor until someone makes her a better offer.The Supreme Court must decide whether conversations between the spouse of a high official with her own lawyer in front of a lawyer employed by the people are shielded by lawyer-client privilege or were for a prosecutor. Only in America.Cap'n Bodgit for governor!Pub Date: 5/19/97

Redirect your energies: Focusing all your resources on your current job could kill your career, finds Exec-U-Net, a management information service. The Norwalk, Conn.-based outfit surveyed more than 1,500 executive search firms and found that 75 percent believe that working all-out at your job now shouldn't be your top priority. The recruiters advocate network- and contact-building for people who want to be on the move.Go it alone: Brand-new entrepreneurs may be tempted to add the words "and associates" to their own names when choosing a corporate identity, but if it's a one-person operation, it's best to leave the phrase off. That's the advice of Paul and Sarah Edwards, columnists for Home Office Computing magazine.

Anyone who expected uplifting debate is sitting New Hampshire out.The U.S. sold arms to Iran while forbidding others to do so. Now it turns out Britain did the same with Iraq. We're even.Dutch wanted a police chief who knows where his appointment came from.PG County Exec Wayne Curry is getting a stadium free. Wayne Curry for Mayor! Wayne Curry for Governor!